The workshops below link to the National Curriculum, but students also learn the skills they will need to extract information and to think creatively in whatever subject they choose to follow.
Part of every workshop takes place in The Old Medicine House which dates to the 16th century, giving particular relevance to students of Tudor and local history.
All the workshops can be adapted to suit the requirements of individual schools. Contact us to discuss your requirements.
Key Stages 4 & 5 (Years 8, 9, 10 and 11)

Civil War

Subjects covered: History, Geography, Physics, Archaeology

Students are introduced to the landscape by being asked to consider why it appears as it does and what has shaped it. In rotation, they handle and are encouraged to deduce the use and function of a series of objects, which include ceramics; some artificial and some man-made; some made mostly of metal; and those that relate to the Civil War. The exercise is to encourage diagnostic skills. The afternoon consists of a hands on session examining musket balls to deduce their history and a tour of The Old Medicine House looking at the evidence of the 10,000 year occupation of the site and the history of medicine and belief connected to it.

History of Medicine

Subjects covered: History, Science, Chemistry, Botany

This workshop exploring the history of medicine takes place in The Old Medicine House, where the Johnson Brothers manufactured their patent medicines from the mid-nineteenth century until the establishment of the NHS provided medicine for all. Students will use cuttings from the Tudor herb beds in the garden to make herbal solutions; they will work with equipment used by apothecaries; they will learn where the patent medicine was manufactured and they will consider the role of belief in the success of medical cures throughout history.